I remember the day when I could write a blog about sexual harassment in the workplace and get a vitriolic discussion going among TR members who either wanted to back up what I said or wished I would fall off a building, hitting every window ledge on my way down.

Now, at least this week, it appears that Windows 8 is arousing the same kind of emotion from those in the TechRepublic community.

TR member Palmetto_CharlieSpencer cites some of the prohibiting issues of upgrading to Windows 8, including the steep learning curve for end users, "the high cost of purchasing it. Of training people to use it. Of upgrading hardware to run it. (I had to upgrade the BIOS on both of my test systems before I could install it. That's free, but it takes time to find those upgrades and install them.)"
Mikifinaz says he resents the price tag of yet another half-finished OS: "Yes, I said half finished. Downloading patches has become the excuse for not getting the OS even close to ship."
Ramnet says he has not found W7/W8Beta to be better or faster than XP and "frankly doing old tasks new ways is not efficient nor does it lead to increased productivity."

All these statements are valid and are things to be considered by IT pros who are going to be expected to make the call on the upgrade as well as do the work to make it happen.

What I'd like to do with this poll is just to get a gut reaction to Windows 8.

About Toni Bowers

Toni Bowers is Managing Editor of TechRepublic and is the award-winning blogger of the Career Management blog. She has edited newsletters, books, and web sites pertaining to software, IT career, and IT management issues.

Full Bio

Toni Bowers is Managing Editor of TechRepublic and is the award-winning blogger of the Career Management blog. She has edited newsletters, books, and web sites pertaining to software, IT career, and IT management issues.